Can Orioles overcome 'Curse of the Titanic' in 2012?

When I was watching television while completing an online fantasy baseball draft last night, I had a revelation -- the Orioles are going to finish with a winning record in 2012.

Huh? I know they're picked to finish at the bottom of the American League East again in 2012 by pretty much everyone that knows what the AL East is. And I know they still aren't sure who is pitching a week from Friday on Opening Day at Camden Yards, let alone the other 161 games this season. And I know there are still more questions than answers for a lineup that lacks the prototypical leadoff hitter as long as Brian Roberts is unable to play. But a commercial for the re-release of the movie "Titanic" has me believing in Orioles Magic in 2012.

Think about it. The Orioles last had a winning season in 1997, when they went 98-64 and won the AL East. After losing to the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS, Davey Johnson resigned as manager in early November of that year. A little more than a month later, "Titanic" debuted in theaters on its way to becoming the all-time highest-grossing film worldwide, a role it held until "Avatar" passed it in 2009-2010.

Coincidentally -- I think, anyway -- the Orioles went crashing down after the release of the movie as fast as that ill-fated ship after it hit the iceberg. Oops, I forgot a spoiler alert.

"Titanic" is being re-released in theaters on April 4 -- two days before Opening Day at Camden Yards.

Coincidence? Perhaps, but I'm drinking the Orange Kool-Aid and believing the move was arranged by Peter Angelos as a way to release the Orioles from "The Curse of the Titanic" that has plagued the team over the past 14 seasons. Come on, if the man can single-handedly bring down an entire franchise -- as so many Orioles fans believe -- he could easily arrange something like this.

The RMS Titanic never recovered after hitting the iceberg in the north Atlantic Ocean 100 years ago, but is it too late for the Orioles to recover from the multiple shipwrecks of the past 14 seasons?